New Shun 1730

"We salt households are not wronged, it is the reclamation company. Please make the decision! Great Lord!"

When it came time to try the case, the not-so-intense fight between the gangsters had ended. Facing the huge word "wrong" written on the white cloth with the blood of the severed finger, the county magistrate asked the classic question "What is your grievance?" and got this answer.

The fight was over, and the whole process was almost uneventful. A group of professional political gangsters beat a group of unprofessional political gangsters. In an instant, the opponents scattered like birds and beasts.

After Jiugong Mountain, Dashun chose to compromise and retained many "vibrant" features of Jiangnan.

And here, the county magistrate used to try the case in the county government office. The powerful plaintiffs and defendants each hired people from the fighting business to fight in front of the county government office. The county magistrate was helpless and could not afford to offend anyone. The so-called [after the trial, the formation was set up to block the fight, and the officials and the law were as shaved as the officials], the officials and the law were just a place to hang hair.

Even the orthodox "Governor Yingtian" specially appointed by the court could be slapped in the face in the street, and the beater would leave.

Professional beaters, party disputes and street fights, and local councilors like scholars becoming gangsters. Think about a place in the later 92 years where the Jiaofangsi system was abolished and female prisoners could be given a reduced sentence by serving in the military paradise. You can roughly understand what the real gangster scholars who beat people were like at that time.

The county magistrate didn't care about such things at all. The people didn't report it and the officials didn't investigate it.

Beating people to death is another matter, but he knew that the beaters here were measured and generally didn't beat people to death.

The county magistrate had seen a lot of such things and was experienced.

There were many similar things in the previous dynasty, such as the story of "Five Tombstones", in which professional scholars and students came forward first and questioned the captain who came to arrest people. The captain asked back, "Does this have anything to do with you, the scholars?" Both sides quickly started fighting, so that "the governor trembled and dared not move."

The county magistrate was used to this. As long as no one was killed, it was no big deal. Generally, before the trial, the plaintiff and the defendant would fight in front of the county government. Today, there were just more people fighting.

For such a large county, the court only gave that little money and no staff, relying on grassroots scholars. Many grassroots scholars were gangster leaders. It was good enough to keep the county running and collect taxes. How could they manage everything?

Just now, the county magistrate's confidants watched the whole fight.

The group of salt households who supported the reclamation of wasteland with the tablets of the heavenly officials and earthly officials first attracted a large number of citizens.

Then the gangster scholar used the skills of a storyteller to describe the hardships of the salt households.

Then, when compassion was overflowing, the similarities between the feudal obligation system of the textile industry craftsmen in the previous dynasty and the salt households turned to the textile industry craftsmen in the previous dynasty aroused the empathy of the citizens who were mainly engaged in small industries and commerce.

Then, he made a direct attack, saying that the salt households who cried out for injustice before sold the Caodang themselves, and now they heard that there would be compensation for enclosure, so they made trouble to get back the contract. They are just a group of unruly people, you should not sympathize with them. Then why don’t you sympathize with us, the salt households who eat maggot shrimp paste?

After quickly reversing public opinion, the professional gangster chopped off one of his fingers, cut off a large piece of meat from his chest and threw it into the incense burner.

The burning was sizzling and the meat was fragrant.

Then he used the severed finger to write a big "injustice" on the white cloth.

Taking advantage of this self-mutilation shock, he shouted that he would never reconcile with those who opposed reclamation.

Those who didn't know he was a professional gangster thought it was simply infuriating.

The citizens who were there a few days ago all turned around at this time.

Then this group of professional political gangsters rushed to the street, blocked the salt households who opposed reclamation, and directly dispersed the opposite side, and surrounded and beat those thugs and scholars on the opposite side who were obviously not salt households.

The real anti-enclosure salt households were completely disorganized and retreated in an instant, fleeing from the city and running in all directions.

The salt households supporting land reclamation won a great victory and then paraded around the city twice.

The crying incident of Emperor Chongzhen of the previous dynasty made those in this industry understand a truth: debate is stupid. If you use thugs to beat the opponent so that he dares not show his head, then you can say whatever you want.

Because everyone is talking about abstract benevolence and righteousness, which is a bullshit. Abstract things, eternal fairness and justice, all rely on one's mouth.

Since we don't talk about class interests, specific interests, but only abstract eternal justice, benevolence and morality, then whoever wins the fight has the final say, and even the Qing Dynasty can talk about these abstract nonsense if they win the fight.

However, these are all old experiences.

What was different this time was that these political hooligans raised specific interests instead of abstract benevolence and justice; they were specific to the interests of a certain class instead of abstract benevolence for all; they were specific to the ownership of the means of production instead of abstract benevolence.

Now these people have won a great victory, controlled the public opinion, and beat away those who should be beaten, and now they come here to cry out for injustice.

But they are not crying out for themselves, but for the reclamation company.

The county magistrate was still very satisfied with the behavior of these hooligans.

The target of this injustice was the reclamation company, instead of directly confronting those salt households who opposed enclosure, which saved the county magistrate a lot of trouble.

He was not in a hurry to try the case. After asking someone to present the petition written by the professional lawyer, he slowly and methodically delayed time. He was waiting for some people.

After a while, he heard a drum in the distance, and then a petty official said: "The governor has arrived!"

The people who were watching the excitement made way, and the county magistrate also hurriedly tidied his clothes and hats, and went out to greet him with the petty officials and yamen runners in the county.

After the ceremony, Lin Min said, "You can do your own trial, just be fair. I am not here to preside over the trial, nor am I interfering in other people's affairs."

"Just do it as it should be."

The county magistrate agreed and asked Lin Min to come to the table to supervise.

After the surroundings calmed down, several people from the reclamation company and those market merchants who had a large number of grass land deeds were also brought in.

Originally, according to the last accusation, these people from the reclamation company were the defendants.

Now that the gangsters here have won, they have turned around and made the people from the reclamation company the plaintiffs.

And these market merchants who have grass land deeds have become an embarrassing existence.

The county magistrate first read the petition, which was actually known to the people who were watching the excitement, and then asked the market merchants, "When the land was enclosed, the reclamation company came to you and said that you had grass land deeds. You have everything, such as the stamp string for the completion of the tax. You voluntarily accepted the compensation for the enclosed land. Is this true?"

When these market merchants heard the word "voluntary", they just wanted to curse in their hearts.

I thought, what does it mean to be voluntary?

If we don't do it voluntarily, the Duke of Xingguo will investigate our private salt business. We don't do it voluntarily, but can we not do it voluntarily?

If someone else comes to investigate, it's easy to say, and we can always fool them.

But there is no such thing as whether you want to investigate or not. As long as you want to investigate, there is nothing that we can't find out about private salt and private frying.

But now that things have come to this, if we say we are not voluntary, or directly cry out for injustice, then we are foolish.

Because... their buying of grass is an illegal transaction.

"Sir, we all voluntarily accept the compensation for enclosure."

"The reclamation company negotiated with us, and we all volunteered."

"First, salt frying is a hard job in the world, and we have long wanted to change our jobs."

"Second, the compensation is quite reasonable."

"Therefore, we all voluntarily accept the compensation for enclosure."

"These grass marsh mortgage deeds and tax payment certificates within five years are all here. Please take a look, sir."

The clerk hurriedly took all the contracts to the county magistrate, who randomly picked a few and nodded: "These are all true, especially the evidence of paying taxes. These cannot be faked. The salt administration also has a stub."

"Since there is evidence, all the contracts are complete. Then according to what you said, those salt households who came here a few days ago to oppose the reclamation of wasteland were all unruly people?"

"The nature of the incident a few days ago should be that the unruly people sold the grass and marshes, and could not get compensation for the enclosure, so they gathered together to falsely accuse and make trouble?"

"If this is true, they must be severely punished."

Since these market merchants have come to this point, they can only do it to the extreme.

Otherwise, if they really want to trace it, who organized those salt households to oppose the enclosure in the first place?

But they were the ones who fanned the flames behind the scenes, and they were the ones who took the lead in organizing it. They tried to threaten and resist, so as to ensure that they could continue to have the benefits of frying private salt.

This does not mean that the market merchants want to sell the grass and marshes to get compensation for the enclosure.

The little compensation for the enclosure can only be given in the open. The land-enclosing companies contracted the "ownerless" grasslands directly from the imperial court, and it was impossible to give them a penny. Moreover, even if the lawsuit was brought to Beijing, these market merchants would not be in the right.

But now that things have developed to this point, what else can the market merchants do?

Take a step back and regret in court, saying that he actually did not want to be enclosed, but was forced by the Duke of Xingguo. Because if he did not agree to the enclosure, the Duke of Xingguo would investigate his private salt.

If private salt is really investigated, the compensation will be much.

This kind of thing can basically be understood as anti-corruption in the early Ming Dynasty. The emperor knew whether the money in the local area was enough or not. He set a very high standard for saints, and then the emperor had the name of absolute justice in his hands. He could deal with whoever he wanted, and it was in the name of anti-corruption.

Private salt is similar. What will happen after the merchants enter the market? Is the imperial court stupid? But the law is here, and there is really a reason to deal with these private salt.

Many laws are not clearly stated, especially in the Jiangnan region, where it is impossible to do things according to the law. If you really want to do things according to the law, it will be a big deal. It is not just the salt industry, but also land, farmland, etc. There are many illegal problems.

For example, the policy of inconsistent tax rates in Jiangnan counties since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the distinction between official fields and private fields at the beginning, and the various strange policies of tax rates based on the place of household registration, led to the classic land dispute between Jiaxing and Jiashan counties from the Longqing period to the Chongzhen period.

In short, in the early Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan borne a large amount of national taxes. However, the basis of this part of the grain tax was achieved by the official fields in the hands of the court after the end of the war in the early Ming Dynasty.

Official fields can be taxed very high because there are no middlemen to make a profit. Later, the number of official fields became less and less, but the tax amount of the entire county was not adjusted. The mess of seeking refuge, transferring household registration to pay taxes in counties with low tax rates, etc., has developed into people from two counties fighting each other in the later period, from civilians to gentry to officials, and has risen to the point where local governments are undermining each other.

The bulk was all in the county.

In fact, it was similar to the "grassland ownership" issue in this enclosure:

Illegally inherited things would cause great social unrest if they were moved for a long time, but because the economic foundation of the country was different, the law could not be applied to all of them. Therefore, the court chose to tacitly allow the local areas to follow the illegal tradition.

Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the society has been out of control and the local grassroots have collapsed. When the early superstructure designed according to the national plan of turning the country into a large serf village could not hold up, unless there was a major reshuffle, the only way was to recognize the local policies with the attitude of "clearly violating the law, but tacitly approving and not investigating".

Take the enclosure issue as an example. If it is really handled according to the law, it is really not too simple. But the reality is that it really cannot be handled according to the law.

Now these market merchants are helpless.

The law is flexibly controlled by court officials such as Liu Yu.

You can switch between strict compliance with the law and relaxed local special circumstances at any time.

There are many historical problems that were not all smashed and built new at the beginning, so this is the only way.

This kind of switching makes there always a "crime" suitable for these market merchants.

If they don't say that they are voluntary, what else can they do? It must be "voluntary".